Surah ash-Shura (Consultation ) 42 : 8

Explanatory Note

Had God so willed, He could have made them all one single community, but He admits to His grace whoever He will, whereas " the wrongdoers will have no one to protect them and no one to support them. (Verse 8)

God could, if He wished, create people in a different form so as to make their behaviour and actions uniform. Had He done so, their end would have been the same and they would all go either to heaven or to hell. However, in His limitless glory, God created man for a purpose, assigning to him the task of building human life on earth. In order for this task to be accomplished He made it necessary for man to have special qualities distinguishing him from both angels and devils, as also from all types of creation with a nature of singular direction. In this respect, then, He gave man qualities and abilities which make some people lean towards guidance, light and good action, while others lean towards error, darkness and evil action. Each group follows one of these two susceptibilities inherent in human nature, leading them to the end determined for the type of action they choose: "some shall be in paradise and some in the blazing fire." (Verse 7) Thus God will "admit to His grace whoever He will, whereas "the wrongdoers will have no one to protect them and no one to support them." (Verse 8) His decisions are based on His knowledge of the conditions of both parties and whether they follow guidance and thus deserve His grace or go astray and thus deserve His punishment.

It has already been mentioned that some people take protectors for themselves other than God. Now, the surah makes it clear that "the wrongdoers will have no one to protect them and no one to support them." (Verse 8) The fact is that their alleged protectors do not exist.